Baku urges Europe to take more serious Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister called on the European countries to pay more attention to Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"Europe must pay more attention to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Elmar Mammadyarov said at a meeting of PACE Standing Committee in Baku on May 23.
Mammadyarov said such a large number of refugees and conflicts in the 21st century are unacceptable.
Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.
Though a fragile ceasefire has been in place since 1994, long-standing efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.
Mammadyarov said Azerbaijan faces double standards when it comes to implementation of UN resolutions on Karabakh.
"We see an obvious approach in the form of, I am not afraid of these words, double standards. Some UN resolution just start running on the day of adoption, while the UN resolutions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have not been implemented for 20 years," Mammadyarov stressed.
Noting that negotiations with Armenia will continue, Mammadyarov said, this conflict is leading the region to nowhere and has undeniable negative effects.
He said that the principles of resolving the conflict have already been recognized.
"UN Security Council has adopted four relevant resolutions. Any resolution on the Karabakh conflict must be based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the countries," Mammadyarov said.
He further said visiting the territory of a country without taking permission of its authorities is impossible.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that a visit to Nagorno-Karabakh without the permission of the country is unacceptable.
"Karabakh is Azerbaijan's territory, therefore we make a list of persona non grata all, who violates this provision and visit Nagorno-Karabakh without permission of the Azerbaijani authorities. After a person's explanation, we can reconsider this person's inclusion in the list," Mammadyarov said.
While commenting on Azerbaijan's presidency in PACE, Mammadyarov said during the period Azerbaijan will hold several major international events.
"The country will host 18 international events in the next six months," he added. "We intend to demonstrate maximum transparency and openness. Meanwhile, the European countries must try to understand each other, rather than argue" Mammadyarov said.
Mammadyarov added that during its presidency in PACE, Azerbaijan will coordinate its activity with European partners.
Azerbaijan's chairmanship of the committee started officially on May 14 and will end in November when the country hands it over to Belgium.
Also, speaking at the meeting, PACE President Anne Brasseur said PACE takes an unequivocal position on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
She noted that the territorial integrity principle is one of the fundamental values.
"We use it towards not only Ukraine's issue but also towards Azerbaijan. PACE and all European organizations must adhere to these values," Brasseur said.
She said PACE has already commented on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, passed a resolution and supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
"Azerbaijan and Ukraine are not the only countries with territorial integrity under a threat. I am talking about all so-called "frozen conflicts" in Europe," she said. "Regarding Ukraine, PACE will again discuss the situation in this country after the presidential and municipal elections."